Mechanism for pulling a lock handle into a vehicle door



Sept. 5, 1961 BRANKOVl ET AL 2,998,992

MECHANISM FOR PULLING A LOCK HANDLE INTO A VEHICLE DOOR Filed March 15, 1957 United States Patent 2,998,992 MECHANISM FOR PULLING A LOCK HANDLE INTO A VEHICLE DOOR V Obrad Brankovic andMiodrag Brankovic, both of 12 Temisvarska St, Belgrade, Yugoslavia Filed Mar. 15, 1957, Ser. No. 646,476 Claims priority, application Yugoslavia Mar. 22, 1956 Claims. (Cl. 292-1) Projecting handles upon the door locks of vehicles or airplanes affect both the esthetic appearance and the aerodynamic qualities.

An object of the invention is to provide a construction whereby the door handle may be withdrawn into the door profile.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism which will avoid the possibility of people being injured by the door handle in case of a collision or in case the vehicle should strike pedestrians.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a handle which is capable of being withdrawn into the profile of the door without any danger of injuring the persons manipulating such handle.

With the above and other objects in view which will become apparent from the detailed description below one form of the invention is shown in the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic View illustrating the position of the elements of the invention at the moment when the door is closed and the handle is withdrawn within the door.

FIGURE 2 is a similar view showing the position of the elements immediately preceding the opening of the door.

FIGURE 3 is a similar view illustrating the position of the elements when the door has been opened.

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view with parts in elevation of a detail showing a separable connection and FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view of the construction shown in FIGURE 4 upon the sectional line therein looking in the direction of the arrows and showing additionally the means for releasing the latch.

The mechanism includes three functionally separated assemblies: That marked A in FIGURE 1 illustrates the elements within the door which will cooperate with the door jamb, the assembly B shows the safety spring and the separable connection and C shows the lock handle together with the mechanism to fix the handle in its projecting position.

The assembly A comprises a bell crank lever 1 having a friction roller 2 mounted upon one arm thereof and having a flexible steel rope 3 connected to the other arm. An opening is provided in the door through which the roller 2 may extend as shown in FIGURE 3. The steel rope 3 extends over a pulley thereby connecting the assembly A with the assembly B.

The assembly B comprises a separable element 5 designed to coact with a latch 6 and a bolt 7. See FIG- URES 4 and 5. The bolt 7 is subjected to the action of a small spring as shown in FIGURE 5. A guide member 4 which is immovable contains a movable guide member 10 in which is disposed a helicoidal safety spring 9. Also within the guide 4 is located a spring 11 coacting with the movable guide 10 and flanges provided upon the guide 4. The rope 3 is connected to the movable member 10.

A button 8 under the action of a spring is designed to cooperate with the bolt 7 as shown in FIGURE 5 so as to release the latch 6 when the button 8 is pressed inwardly.

A flexible steel connection 12 is connected to the separable element 5 and extends to the right as shown in FIGURE 1 to connect with the door handle in ass embly C.

The lock handle assembly C comprises the handle 13 which may be axially displaced on a cylindrical trunnion 14. Cooperating with the handle is a conically wound spring 15 having flanges so that such spring upon disengagement of the separable connection by a pressure upon the button 8 will project the handle from the door as shown in FIGURE 2.

In order to bring the handle back exactly to its seat in the profile of the door, between the handle and the tubular trunnion 14 some known device method keeping a determined angular position of the handle 'is to be applied; for example, grooves and cotters at the same time providing the-possibility of turning of the handle, when in pulled position.

the spring 15 may be so constructed as to accomplish a two-fold function, namely:' to push the handles out by axial pressure and to bring it to horizontal position by. torsional pressure. I

The mechanism whereby the handle is fixed in projected position from the door comprises a right angularly shaped pin 16 under the action of a leaf spring 17 urging said pin towards the left as shown in FIGURE 1. A bell crank lever 18 is pivotally mounted at a fixed point to the door and has one arm provided with a roller to cooperate With the door jamb while the other arm is designed to cooperate with the pin 16. A two-armed cam lever 19 is also pivotally mounted upon the door to cooperate with the pin 16. The bell-crank lever 18 cooperates with two helicoidal springs provided with flanges to maintain the lever 18 in central position. The cam lever 19 is under the action of a coil spring tending to rotate the lever 19 in clockwise direction.

The .operation of the various elements above described.

is as follows: The flexible connection 3 is always extended under the tension of the spring 11 and the roller 2 isapplied with a certain pressure against the door frame. As soon as the door opens the roller 2 is projected therefrom as shown in FIGURE 3.

When the door opens the flexible connection 3 will move in the direction of the full arrow in FIGURE 3 and the movable guide 10 will be moved accordingly. The automatic engagement of the separable connection will therefore take place as soon as the door opens and the connections 3 and 12 will be coupled through the movable guide 10.

When the door is closed the roller 2 moves the bell crank lever 1 anticlockwise thereby pulling the flexible connections 3 and 12 in the direction of the dotted arrow in FIGURE .3 and the door handle is withdrawn into the door.

InFIGURE 4 the sliding latch 6 is shown having a' stem extending into the movable guide 10. The pressure of the spring 9 maintains the latch and movable guide in contact. The maximum force with which the assembly may pull the handle is limited and determined by the tension of the spring 9. This tension may be adjusted so as to be just suflicient to overcome the tension of the spring 15 and the various frictions incurred in the assembly C. On the other hand it should not be suflicient to wedge the fingers of the operator if they should be located behind the handle upon shutting the door.

The assembly C operates in the following manner. The two-armed lever 19 is subjected to the constant action of a helicoidal spring so that one of the arms contacts the pin 16 in order to prevent such pin from shifting towards the handle as shown in FIGURE 1. The lever 19 is merely used to protect the chromium coated surface of the cylindrical part of the handle. As the handle is pulled out as shown in FIGURE 2 the flanged rim of the handle cylinder rotates the lever 19 anti-clockwise thereby allowing the spring 17 to push the pin 16 towards the handle cylinder. The left hand end of the pin 16 enters an arc-shaped groove provided in the cylinder of the handle as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3 thereby temporan'ly fixing the projecting handle in such position while at the same time allowing a rotation thereof in order to act upon the usual bolt, provided to cooperate with the handle. Upon shutting the door the roller of the bell crank lever 18 contacts the border D of the door frame thereby forcing the lever 18 to rotate clockwise and the vertical arm of the lever 18 will pull the hooked right end of the pin 16 thereby withdrawing the pin 16 from the are shaped groove on the cylinder of the handle. The vertical extending end of the lever 18 should be at an obtuse angle so as to reduce the oblique force on the pin 16. The handle when released is pulled into the door profile.

As indicated above the handle 13 will actuate the usual bolt provided upon door locks and which is not shown in the figures. The lock for locking the door may act either on the handle or on the button 8 in order to disengage the separable connection. Any of the usual devices may be used for this purpose because the type of lock has no effect on the principle for the performance of the mechanism described.

The advantages of the mechanism above described for withdrawing handles of doors within the profiles thereof are the following:

In withdrawing the handle the inertia force of the door is used so that all the springs mentioned may be of relatively large size which will result in a constant performance and longer life.

The force for withdrawing the handle can be precisely adjusted and is a function of the size and tension of the safety spring 9 so that a safe withdrawal of the handle is secured preventing a. serious injury to the hand of the operator as the fingers thereof should remain positioned behind the handle. Since the entire door operates as a lever with uneven arms with the point of support at the hinges, the force arm is much longer than the resistance arm and it is therefore sufficient to push the door slightly in order to have the handle withdrawn.

In the operation of the mechanism three different phases are to be distinguished. l. The disconnection of the separable connection and the projection of the handle while the door is still in closed position. 2. The automatic engagement of the separable connection as soon as the door opens, and 3. The withdrawal of the handle upon shutting the door. This facilitates the maintenance of the mechanism and contributes to the simplicity of construction.

It is thought that the invention and its advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it is apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described and illustrated in the drawings being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

We claim:

1. A mechanism for withdrawing a protruding lock handle on a door comprising a bell crank lever pivotally mounted within said door, said door having a slot therein at one side through which one of the arms of said lever contacts the door frame when the door is closed, a lock handle mounted in said door, said door having a recess for receiving said handle, a first spring cooperating with said handle for projecting said handle from said recess, a flexible connection extending from the other arm of said lever to said handle maintaining said handle in said recess when said door is closed, a second spring tensioning said flexible connection, a separable connection interposed in said flexible connection comprising two elements, a fixed guide within said door for said elements, manually operable means for disconnecting said elements to permit said first spring to project said handle from said door, and means operated by said second spring coacting with one of said elements for uniting said elements when said door is opened so that said lever may pivot and project said first mentioned arm through said slot.

2. A mechanism as set forth in claim 1 wherein an are shaped groove is provided upon said handle, a pin reciprocally mounted in said door, a leaf spring urging said pin towards said are shaped groove in said handle, a two armed cam lever mounted in said door cooperating with said pin, a spring cooperating with said two armed cam lever which is more powerful than said leaf spring until a twisted top rim of said handle turns said two armed cam lever slightly which occurs as soon as the button is pressed and the separable connection disengaged by the action of said coiled spring which is constantly tensioned to urge said handle into protruding position and torsionally to bring said handle to horizontal position.

3. A mechanism for withdrawing a protruding lock handle into a recess provided in a door as set forth in claim 2 wherein a toggle lever is provided and a spring cooperates with said toggle lever urging the same to central position so that upon opening the door said toggle lever oscillates without effect and upon closing said door said lever oscillates in the other direction so that an arm thereof withdraws said pin thereby automatically releasing said handle to be withdrawn into said recess.

4. A mechanism as set forth in claim 1 wherein said mechanism acts in three separate strokes, unlocking said separable connection which causes the movement of said handle to protruded position, an automatic reengagement of said separable connection when the door is opened, and a withdrawal of said handle into said recess when said door is closed by moving said engaged separable connection in said guide.

5. A mechanism as set forth in claim 1 wherein said manually operable means includes a. push button coacting with a pivotally mounted latch and said first mentioned arm of said lever has a roller mounted at the end thereof for contacting the door frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,036,646 Klonower Aug. 27, 1912 2,296,606 Gaffney Sept. 22, 1942 2,486,586 Brittain et a1 Nov. 1, 1949 2,700,291 Besaw et al. Jan. 25, 1955 

